Today, the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH confirmed the decision of the House of Representatives, which legally prohibits the consumption of cigarettes and tobacco products in all closed public facilities.
They voted for the bill with 40 votes in favor, 7 abstentions and no delegates against. As stated by the chairman Tomislav Martinovic, the Bill was adopted together with the amendments, with the provison that they will have to be re-submitted to the House of Representatives for harmonization.
With the amendment proposed by the Croatian Club of Delegates in the House of Peoples, the Law will start to be applied within a year from the day of its publication in the Official Gazette. But according to the Bill, the owners of catering facilities and all those directly affected by the law will have 24 months to create conditions for the implementation of the law, and in that period there will be no penalties.
The law also prohibits the consumption of tobacco in private vehicles in which minors are, while the exception is the consumption of chewing tobacco.
The caterers were mostly against the law, emphasizing that such a law would have a negative impact on their business. On the other hand, the positive experiences of other countries were emphasized and the claims that the ban on tobacco consumption in closed facilities did not harm the catering industry.
This bill applies to tobacco and other smoking products (hookahs, water pipes …), including electronic cigarettes, smokeless tobacco products and herbal smoking products.
As stated in the proposal, the owners of catering facilities (restaurants, cafes, etc.) will be obliged to display the sign “no smoking” in visible places, and ashtrays and other ash containers must not be displayed in the facility.
The owner of the facility will be obliged to warn those who do not respect this law, deny the service or ask the person to leave the premises. Otherwise, the owner of the facility will be obliged to call the police.
The law also provides for exceptions to this ban, so cigarette smoking will be allowed for users of services in mental health services and departments and other institutions that provide psychosocial rehabilitation.
Smoking will be allowed at airports in a separate area, but the decision is made by the airport director.
The law also prohibits the placing on the market of tobacco products that contain various types of additives, which create the impression that the tobacco product is less dangerous. It is also forbidden to place tobacco products that contain aromas such as filters and similar.
Also, the law prohibits any type of advertising of tobacco and tobacco products, the display of photographs, logos and the like.
Source: Klix.ba.
